Alternate Daughter
by Nadie2
Summary: In a parallel universe Jack and Sam have everything they've ever wanted until the aliens destroy earth. Their daughter manages to escape to our universe where she has been living for the past six years. Then SG-1 happens upon the planet she's been living on.
1. The Midnight Ride of Debbie O'Neil

**Yes, it's one of those other realities bleeding through into ours. In the first reality, Ernest ended up on Abydos instead of Heliopolis (it's just luck of the draw with random dialing right?) so he made it back after a little experimentation. So, the Stargate program got started back in 1945.**

**1994 - In a parallel universe**

_ "Debbie!" Daniel Jackson says, banging on the door. The five year old feels a twist in her stomach, and she knows that something is wrong. She opens up the door. He scoops her up quickly, and starts running down the hall with her cradled in his arms like a baby._

_ "What is happening?" she asks, suddenly worried that he's been taken over by an alien of some kind. He's never acted like this before._

_ "Your parents loved you so much," he says through sobs, "You can't forget that."_

_ "Where are they?" she demands._

_ "Quiet," he cautions._

_ "I want my Mommy and Daddy!" she screams, kicking and thrashing her arms. Debbie is as strong as her parents, and Daniel has to dart into a nearby room, and set her down._

_ "Honey, your mom and dad sent me to take you somewhere were you will be safe," he says, kneeling down next to her._

_ "Why?" Debbie demands stubbornly._

_ Daniel's eyes show such sadness that Debbie can't even begin to understand it. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save them."_

_ "I'll save them," she says, trying to dart past him and escape through the door._

_ Daniel catches her around the waist, and holds her to his heart, "Honey, you can't save them. They died: Mommy, and Daddy, and Teal'c. They all died giving me the chance to get away. They did it so I could save you. You have to let me do that."_

_ "Dead?" Debbie asks. She's still too young to fully understand the word. But she's old enough that it deflates her. He stands up with the limp girl pulled close to his heart. He opens the door slowly, and looks both ways down the hallway before darting out into it. He runs down the corridor before darting into an elevator._

_ He hears a sob from the girl held to his chest._

_ "I was eight when my parents died," he offers, "I thought that nothing would ever matter again. I thought… that there was nothing left for me. But, that was a long time ago. I've found a lot of people to love since then. Sha'uri, my team, and you. What you lost, is more than anyone should ever have to deal with, but I promise the best part of your life is left."_

_ She sniffles her nose, and looks up at him. She really wants her Mommy, and Daddy, but she is glad that she still has her Uncle Daniel._

_ The panels of the elevator open up, and Daniel breathes a sigh of relief. Another empty corridor, and they are almost there. He might actually be able to save her._

_ He opens the closet door, and moves past some junk in the closet. He pulls a blanket off a mirror, and fumbles for something which looks like a rock to Debbie. He touches buttons on the rock, and with each touch a different image flashes on the screen. Before long, he sees the one he is looking for. "You have to touch it at the same time as me, ok, honey?" he says._

_ She nods her hand, and extends her tiny hand. The fact that it is shaking doesn't escape Daniel's notice. In a second Debbie, finds herself in the picture._

_ "It's like Mary Poppins," she says._

_ "Yes, it's exactly like that," he says, leaving the small room of artifacts without so much as pocketing one of the small ones. Quite a feat for an archeologist like him_

_ "Where are we going now?" she asks._

_ "We're going through the Stargate," Daniel tells her, shifting her to his right hip. Her white nightgown gets caught as he does it, and he readjusts it to cover her legs. He almost laughs at himself, worrying about a chill when the world is crashing down around his shoulders._

_ "Daddy says I can't go through the Stargate until I'm old enough to date," she says._

_ "Doesn't Jack also say you're never going to date?"_

_ Debbie nods._

_ Daniel wants to laugh at his friends' humor, but then he remembers that his friend will never tell a joke again. His heart is breaking, but he needs to hold it together for Debbie, at least for now._

_ "We're going to visit some friends of mine," he says with quaking voice._

_ Debbie looks up with him in panic; grow-ups aren't supposed to be worried. He forces his face into a smile, but she doesn't believe it. _

_ Where is he going to take her? In the almost-fifty years that the Stargate had been in operation, they had made more enemies than friends. _

_ He looks down at the small girl standing barefoot on the floor. For the first time, he notices that she has her alien doll named 'Thor' under her arm. That and her thin nightgown is all she has. She's going to be starting over in another world from scratch._

_ A face comes into his head, and it's followed by an address which he quickly dials in. He steps to the side, and holds all of her limbs away from the kwoosh. He's afraid that she'll start thrashing her arms again, and he wants at least to keep her safe. He hasn't succeeded at anything else today._

_ As the wormhole settles into a quiet shimmering pool, he holds her tight and walks through it. On the other side, she throws up and cries. But he figured she would, and he's holding her so that the sickness falls to the ground._

_ "Its ok, honey, the worst is almost over now," he says, shifting her onto his hip._

_ Debbie's heart falls. How can the worst not be over? Her parents are dead, and the Stargate almost killed her._

_ As they walk over a hill, the ocean catches her eye. She saw a picture of the ocean once, but she's never seen the real thing. It takes her breath away. The ground is a light desert orange, and the city grows out of it with the same color. There are no trees anywhere except around the houses of the city._

_ "This place is called Therma. They're based off of Greek culture, but they've come a ways since then. They have kitchens and bathrooms that are fairly modern, although the stoves work differently, and the fridges are much colder. And I have some friends here. They wanted kids for a long time, and couldn't have any. Their names are Iris and Alexandros," Daniel says._

_ The words are the sort of thing she'd expect to hear when Daniel is going off on one of his culture chats, but there is no pressure behind it. Usually Uncle Daniel's speech is pressured, because he's sure someone will cut him off. Daniel's steps have slowed as well._

_ Then Daniel catches himself, and speeds them up._

_ "I can walk," she says, trying to lighten his load now that he is moving quickly._

_ "You don't have any shoes," he says. _

_ "Why does it matter if Iris and Alexandros wanted a kid?" I ask._

_ "You're going to stay with them," he says._

_ "For a while until you get Mommy and Daddy?" she asks._

_ It's a full four steps before he answers her, "Your parents are dead honey, they aren't coming back." He can feel the sobbing of her chest against his, but no tears are coming out. "Honey, you are going to stay with Iris and Alexandros forever."_

_ "Don't leave me," she says, clutching onto him desperately. _

_ Tears start rolling down his chest. He stops walking and sets her down on the ground. He sits down cross legged next to her. "I have to go back honey, the whole world is in danger. I have to try to save it."_

_ "And then you'll come back?" she asks. Mommy and Daddy and Grandpa Jacob and Uncle Teal'c and Uncle Daniel go to save the world all the time. When that happens, she stays with Grandpa George or Auntie Janet for a while until they come back._

_ "If I can, I'll come back, but they died to give me a chance to save you. The least I can do is die to save the world."_

_ "No," she demands, slamming into his chest and clutching to him desperately. She sobs for a while, "You can't leave me. You're all I have left."_

_ "Look at me," he says, pulling her away. Her hands still clutch his shirt, but he can see her face. "I'm not a dad, Debbie. I spent most of my childhood bobbing from family to family. I don't know what to do. You deserve really great parents, and that's what I'm giving you. You're going to be safe here. They will take care of you. You won't ever have to pack up your clothes in a garbage bag, and go to some new family you've never met." Then he realizes what he's said, "I mean, this time you have to go to a family you've never met with almost nothing. But then it's over. The bad parts are over. You're going to live here with them forever. You're going to build a new life with new parents."_

_ "I don't want new parents," she says, burying her face in his shoulder._

_ "I know, honey. You're going to miss your mommy and daddy for a long time, for forever, and that's ok. But your new parents are going to take care of you, and some day you're going to love them, and you're going to feel guilt about that, but you shouldn't."_

_ She looks at him with shining eyes, and his heart melts._

_ "Your parents didn't get to say goodbye to you. But I do. So listen to me. You are brave, honey, and strong. You are smart, and you can do anything. Your parents? They were amazing. They saved the world, the universe, all the time. And you have that in you. I see it in you. Your parents were so proud of you, and they loved you so much. The same goes for me, ok? Just think, you were the one thing we thought worth saving when the world fell down around us. Don't let that sacrifice be in vain."_

_ He stands up, and starts to pick her up. But she shakes her head. He reaches down, and touches the sand. It's as soft as a beach, and his arms are getting sore from carrying the child, so he takes her hand._

_ "I am brave," she repeats to herself, "I am strong, and smart. I can do anything."_

_ Once they reach the village, they walk down several streets before he knocks on a door._

_ A tall woman with long dark flowing black hair meets her eyes. "Hello," she says uncertainly._

_ "You don't know me, but I know you. Is Alex home?" Daniel asks._

_ "He's in the andon," she explains._

_ "I'll get him," Daniel says. Therman culture has moved away from male-only living rooms, but the move is recent enough that woman are still bashful at entering the andon they were forbidden from in their childhoods. Daniel disappears for only a few moments before returning with a tall muscular man in tow._

_ Alex comes out, and picks up Debbie. Her body goes stiff at his touch, but he pulls her to his chest._

_ "Our whole marriage we prayed for a child, have you brought us one, stranger?" Alex asks._

_ "I am from a place where we are not strangers. A place where you helped me free your world from your gods. And after killing your gods, you invented Gods to pray for a child too."_

_ Debbie feels her muscles release, and she snuggles into Alex's chest. She doesn't want to be here, but they want her to be, and she does need comfort._

_ "Her parents died a few hours ago," Daniel says quietly, "Actually, there isn't much left of our world."_

_ "I am sorry," Iris says._

_ "Thank you. I have to go back and fight for my world. But this little girl needs a home. Her parents asked me to find her one," he says._

_ "You're trusting us?" Alex asks._

_ "Like I said, in the place where I come from I know I can trust you. My parents died when I was young, and there was no one there for me."_

_ Iris walks over and rubs Debbie's back, "That isn't going to happen to her."_

_ "I couldn't bring any of her things… clothes or anything," he says._

_ "We can take care of that," Iris says, "But this is for real? We can really keep her?"_

_ Daniel nods._

_ "For sure, and forever?" Alex asks worriedly._

_ "I promise," Daniel says._

_ "You said you'd come back for me," Debbie wails, reaching to him._

_ He stops close enough that he can hop into her arms, "No, I promised I'd come and visit if I could. And I will. But I told you I might not be able to come back."_

_ She clings to him._

_ "I love you honey, but I have to go," he says, slowly pulling away._

_ "No," she sobs. "Please don't leave me." _

_ Daniel finds that he can't quiet escape from her hands which are constantly grabbing and clutching him. He pries her hands free gently, finger by finger, but she re-grips as soon as he gets one free._

_ Isis steps between, and gently holds the child's hands._

_ "I'm sorry, Debbie. But they need me," he turns to leave the room._

_ "I need you too," she pleads._

_ "No, you don't. You need them, and they need you. I'm sorry, Debbie. I am. I wish I could change what happened today. But if there is the smallest chance that I can salvage part of our world, I'm going to do it," her uncle says._

_Then he walks into the setting of the second sun._


	2. Deb: Warrior Princess

**Note: I'm changing the math for this story. Because I can. I'm making Sam six years older, and Jack five years younger. This means that they are only five years apart. This will be important when you find out how the other Jack and Sam meet. But it will be important for both versions of them. Also, Teal'c is with the program because the program is very old. They've been around so long they've done most of what our SG-1 did in seasons 1-10 (besides what is obviously time sensitive) plus a whole lot more.**

**2000**

The sunlight streams through the window, and slowly creeps up the bed. When it reaches Deb's face, she rolls over and enters the pleasant state of lazy wakefulness when she doesn't quite have to get out of bed yet. The moment doesn't last long before Iris slips into the room and says, "Honey, we're going to the market."

"And by that, I assume you mean that you are going to the market," Deb responds dryly.

"You need to do something today. Go to the market, or practice weaving, or…"

"I'll train with the soldiers," she responds.

Iris sighs. She knows it's a battle that she isn't going to win. It's a battle that she's been losing for over a year. Deb was ahead when she went to Earth school. School on Therma was a joke compared to her old school. It only had seven grades, all of which, plus the microscopic school library, Deb had polished off before her eleventh birthday. Since then, she'd spend most of her days tricking the soldiers into teaching her how to fight.

At first they'd refused, and made fun of her. But she'd simply watched the lazy practicing that they did when they'd been on a long boring watch. She'd learned to imitate the movements. They'd laughed even harder as she mimed the movements from a distance.

Then one day, six months back, she'd tricked a green apprentice into a fight for his pride. She'd won. That wasn't saying much. He was an overconfident boy of fourteen with three days of training. But none the less, it had won the respect of the old soldiers. They trained her when they were bored enough, just as they did to the male street urchins turned apprentices who hung about them.

Deb's mother would have pushed harder to prevent it save for two facts. Firstly, girls rarely finished their education before the age of fourteen. Iris figured there was plenty of time to get her settled down, and taught the crafts of a woman before marriage at the age of sixteen or seventeen. Secondly, her mother knew this fighting was a link to the girl's first parents.

Deb never talked about her first parents, even when Alex and Iris asked about them. But Iris knew they were never far from her mind.

"Just don't get hurt. You know there is a rebellion afoot," Iris warns.

Deb stands up, and turns her back to her mother. Iris, begins brushing and braiding her hair. They both know she's too old to have someone else do her hair, but they've done it ever since Deb came to live with them. The two of them had missed a lot of touching, a lot of bonding when she was small. They made up for it now out of time. As Iris ties the bow in her daughter's hair she warns, "Just don't get hurt. You know there is a rebellion afoot."

"There has been a rebellion afoot as long as I've lived here. I don't think this rebellion is ever going to happen," Deb says with a sigh turning to face Iris.

"Well, if it does happen, just make sure you aren't in it," Iris warns, giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead, "Papa is still lingering over his breakfast."

Deb laughs, "He'd do that all morning if we let him."

Her mother nods, and Deb pads down to the kitchen still in the bare feet and the nightgown. It's just like the one which she arrived in this world with. She may not have much left of her culture, but each year she would ask Iris to sew her another nightgown just like the one before.

"There you are, my darling girl!" Alex exclaims as she comes down the stairway. She doesn't know that she is the reason her father takes so long at breakfast. She doesn't know about the time he was sick, and her father waited there over a cold cup of kape for her to come down for almost two hours.

"Morning, Papa," she says, giving him a hug before taking her place at the other end of the table.

She grabs the kape jug and starts to pour herself a cup.

"Still not full grown," he says. It's an old joke, but one with an edge to it. One day, he will not stop her, and that will be the day she is grown in her father's eyes. She wonders when this day will come.

He pushes a glass of milk and a pastry toward her.

"Which of Hercules' great labors will you undertake today?" he teases. He may not admit it in front of his wife, but he likes that his daughter can fight better than boys older than her. He hopes that she will be the first female guard. He even hopes, sometimes, that she will fight beside him when the war comes.

He still believes in the war will come. The man who dropped her off said he had fought next to Alex in the war to end the gods. Now, Alex hopes he will fight in that war next to his daughter. Presuming, of course, the war can wait a few more years until she has grown.

"I've been thinking about that story," she says, "Snakes were sent to kill Hercules in the cradle, right? But he killed them instead. My d… I once heard someone say that the Goa'uld are snakes. And Hercules supposed to be half-god. Maybe he was a Harcesis. That's when two Goa'uld hosts have a baby. They aren't Goa'uld, but they have lots of memories of being a Goa'uld. But that doesn't quite fit. If you're a Harcesis you go bad, and Hercules was supposed to be a hero."

He stares at her. This is a part he can't understand, but he tries to connect with it once more. "That is an interesting theory."

"No… hypothesis," she corrects, "And there is no way to test it."

"Of course," he says.

"I'm sorry… I bore you when I put on the scientist hat. Even if it is the soft sciences."

"I love every bit of you. Just tell me once more… what is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis."

"Hypothesis haven't been tested, and theories have been until we're pretty sure they are truth. How is the council?" she asks, turning the conversation to the part of him she doesn't understand. She hated politics, and all politicians except for Alex.

"Ah, we've a full day of debating trading rights with some off-worlders. If they didn't have such good cheese, we'd have sent them back through the gate."

Deb giggled, knowing her father only pretended to hate such things. She'd seen him in action to know there was no issue too small for debate, in his book. She also knew that he believed in free trade through the gate.

"Is the war of the gods coming?" she asked.

"Always and never, dear one, always and never. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if that Daniel hadn't put that fool thought in my head. War with the gods? Who could win such a thing?"

Deb smiled sadly, "I don't know if anyone can."

And he scolds himself, because it is exactly this war that her first parents gave their lives to.

"Perhaps it's better not to face the gods at all," he muses.

"No, they are not gods. And they must die," she says firmly.

"Yes, and at the speed of politics it should only be another hundred years before we declare war on them!" Alex says with an eye role.

"Ah… but what is a single century in the many millennium they have had control?" she asks.

"A century is a long time for a man. Especially an old man," Alex replies with a sigh.

"You're not old, Papa," she says, bursting across the table to kiss his forehead, and nearly spilling her half-drunk milk in the process.

He was growing old, but she couldn't see it. Perhaps by the time she was ready for war, he would be too old for it. And he was no soldier, he was a politician.

"About these 'snakes'," Alex asks, "Tell me again how they infest humans?"

"They're called Goa'uld," she reminds him, "And they are alien parasites…"

An hour later, Deb has taken her place on the walls of the city. The guards are playing at dice, so it will be a long time until they grow bored enough to have mock battles. If, indeed, they grow bored at all today. She goes to the crevice in which she keeps her practice weapons. She decides on the quarterstaff to practice with today. She feels like she needs the weight of a real workout today. She makes a few practice blows with the weapon before she hears a voice that is all too familiar.

"Guessing strictly by the architecture, I would have to say that there is a Greek influence. The courtyards especially give that away. Of course, the Greeks in our world didn't live near a desert, but I don't suppose the Goa'uld could always have transported people into exactly the same kind of area that they came from."

Goosebumps raise themselves on Deb's arms. It's been half of her life since she last heard that voice, but there is no question in her mind who it belongs to. Still, why would he come back for her now? After all of those years?

"Assuming, of course, that the Goa'uld actually care that much," another voice says.

But it can't be. Her father has been dead for many years. She drops the quarterstaff where it is and pounds down the stairs as quickly as she can. And there - standing before her - are three completely impossible things, and one highly unlikely one.


	3. Deb Unexpected

**Note: At the end of the last chapter several people were confused by my saying, "And there - standing before her - are three completely impossible things, and one highly unlikely one." All four members of SG-1 were there. But three were impossible because Deb thought they were dead. One was just improbable, because she never knew what happened to Daniel.**

The General stares at his flagship team across the briefing room table. "You're sure you're ready to return to active duty?" he demands.

"Yes, sir!" Jack says enthusiastically. Two weeks of forced leave had been enough for him.

"What I mean is, your memories have all returned?" the General presses.

"Of course!" Jack explains impatiently.

"Well," Daniel hedges.

"Daniel," Jack warns.

"We can't know that for sure Jack. The memories have come at random, we can't actually be sure they've all come," Daniel protests.

"But none of us have had a memory flash in five days," Sam protests. The Colonel has spent most of the last two days in her lab. She wants a mission as badly as he does. She's not sure she can take much more of the Colonel asking her how everything in her lab works.

"But we can't know we've remember everything," Daniel protests.

"But we probably have," Sam says.

The General nods his head. He doesn't want Jack with nothing to do any more than the rest of them. His office is no safer than Sam's lab. "All right, and have any other issues been resolved?" the General asks.

"Other issues, sir?" Sam asks.

"Personal issues," the General asks.

"We're fine," Sam says. Jack nods his head.

He looks at them, and oddly doesn't actually require a response from the other two. "All right, I'm clearing you for active duty. I have a mission for you, SG-1. There's a city by an ocean. See if you can make us some new friends," he instructs, nodding to the team to open the briefing folders before them.

"What is it, Daniel?" Sam demands, as she darts into his office and looks over his shoulder at what he is working on.

"What?" he looks up, startled.

"What are you stalling for? What do you want more time to work on?" she demands.

"I wasn't stalling," he says, and she's already determined that his work wouldn't be enough to keep him here.

"Why don't you want to go back to gate travel?" she demands.

"I just thought that you and Jack could use a little more time to, uh… I don't know, work stuff out?" he offers.

"What?" she says in horror.

Daniel rolls his eyes. "Come on, Sam. You two have had a hell of a year! I mean there's that incident where he refused to leave you behind the energy shield, and then the za'tarc thing, and then you guys lose your memories underground, and…"

"Nothing happened!" she practically shouts. In the few weeks since she got back, she found herself having to say that quite often, mostly to herself.

"I know that nothing happened physically, but that doesn't mean that… Sam, I saw you two together."

"No, you saw Jonah and Thera together," she whispers.

"You can call yourselves whatever you want, but…" he begins.

"Jonah wasn't quite Jack," she says.

Daniel literally jumps in surprise at her using Jack's first name. "I don't know, they seemed pretty similar to me."

"No, Jonah… he talked about things Jack never would. And Thera, she had a lot less baggage."

"How do you know Jack wouldn't talk about things if he could? I mean, they are in different circumstances," Daniel points out.

She laughs, "Because, Daniel, I worked with Jack for the better part of a year, and the only way I found out he had a son was because of alien influence. Jonah, he told me about Charlie the first time he dreamed about him. When Jack thought he was going to die, the best he could manage was saying he cared about me more than he should have. Jonah said more than that, and he didn't have any threats or rewards hanging over his head."

Daniel is silent for a long time. "I still think you should deal with how close you got."

"We're fine, Daniel. We… decided to leave it in the room, and we've got a world to save," she says.

Daniel shakes his head, "I just feel like… this is stupid, you know!" he exclaims in frustration.

"We're fine," she says. Then she leans against his desk, and gives him a hard look, "I'm actually wondering if this isn't a little about _your_ problems with Jack."

"What?" Daniel squeaks in horror, "I do _not_ have feelings for…"

Sam laughs, "That isn't what I meant! I just mean… a few weeks before we had our memories swiped, we had a pretty rough mission. You still hadn't forgiven him. I was just wondering if you have the memory back."

"You mean the memory of one of my best friends ordering another of my best friends to build a bomb to blow me up? Yeah, I have a memory of that," he says bitterly.

"I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am, Daniel. I knew it was wrong when I did it. I knew I should have disobeyed orders. I sure as hell would have if I'd known you were on the ship when I built the bomb."

Daniel lets out a long sigh, "I know it. And you weren't the one who pushed the button. I can forgive you."

"You shouldn't forgive me any easier than you forgive the Colonel. He wouldn't have had a button to push if I hadn't made it for him," she says.

Daniel sighs, "I know. Maybe it _is_ time that we get back into action. I mean, it's not like Jack and I are actually going to talk about it. The best way for me to start trusting him again will probably be to work with him. I _usually_ trust his decisions when he is working."

0-0-0

"Are we ready, campers?" Jack asks, looking at his team. Daniel still won't meet his eyes, he's pretty sure he knows why. He's tried to force his mind to make an apology, both before and after they lost their memories. But it won't do it. He's just not the kind of guy who deals with feelings. Least of all with a guy friend!

"Yes, sir," Sam says, and she won't make direct eye contact with him, either. But with his second-in-command, the reason is more bashful. It's best not to push that one. It will go away on its own. They had already ignored similar things away several times. There was the time she'd come at him in the locker room, and the Daniel had met an engaged version of them, and the time he'd kissed a version of her grieving for her dead husband who was also him, and there was the whole za'tarc incident, and…

Teal'c is giving him an odd look. Right, he should probably be leading his team through the gate instead of thinking about all the inappropriate moments he's had with his second-in-command.

"Move out!" he says, and his team follows him through the gate. The walk silently until they get over the hill. Then the glittering sea meets their eyes.

"Ah, water! Do you think they have fish?" Sam says.

He glances questioningly at her. _She's_ never used the fishing metaphor, that was always his.

"I hope not," Teal'c says stoically.

Daniel giggles. "I wonder if it's freshwater. This area looks like a desert, I wonder how the people could survive if it was a real sea. Of course, they could have access to an aquifer of some kind."

As they get nearer, they see the outline of a wall. It's guarded, but the guards look like more of a formality than a desperate necessity based on the gambling they are doing, and the swarm of adolescent boys mock fighting around them.

"Guessing strictly by the architecture, I would have to say that there is a Greek influence. The courtyards especially give that away. Of course, the Greeks in our world didn't live near a desert, but I don't suppose the Goa'uld could always have transported people into exactly the same kind of area that they came from," Daniel says.

"Assuming, of course, that the Goa'uld actually care that much," Jack says bitterly, "Do you see a doorbell anywhere Daniel?" he asks, looking around at the gate.

"Uh… hello?" Daniel says up to the guards.

Suddenly the gates are flung open and a little girl stands before them.

"Hi," Daniel says.

"You… finally came back!" she says, looking at him in shock.

"What do you mean, he's back?" Sam asks.

"Mommy," the girl says, flinging herself into the girl's arms.

"Something you'd like to share with the class?" Jack asks, giving his second-in-command a bemused and bewildered look.

"Daddy," she scolds him lightly, just like she heard her mother do a million times during her childhood.

"Something _you_'d like to share with the class, Jack?" Daniel teases.

"Who are you?" Jack says, moving himself in front of the face which is looking over his second-in-command's shoulder.

"I don't understand," she says, climbing out of Sam's arms and taking a few steps back.

"Neither do we," Daniel says.

"Six years ago, you woke me up in the middle of the night. You told me my parents and Teal'c were dead, and you brought me here. You said you'd come back if you didn't die. I haven't seen you since," she says.

"You just left her?" Jack accuses Daniel.

"It wasn't me!" Daniel defends.

"He didn't just _leave_ me. He took me to my new parents," she says.

"How exactly did you and Daniel get here?" Sam asks.

"We came through the gate," she says, sounding confused.

"Sir, six years ago the Earth gate was non-functional, there is no way that she came from there," Sam says.

"I sort of already knew that, considering that six years ago I didn't have a daughter," Jack retorts.

Deb looks a little panicked, and a lot confused.

"Did you do anything else on your way here?" Daniel asks.

"Yes!" she exclaims suddenly remembering, "We touched a piece of glass, and then we were in the glass like Marry Poppins in the pavement!"

Sam turns to Jack slowly, "Sir, that sounds like…"

"The quantum mirror, I know, but I thought we destroyed that thing!" Jack complains.

"We did, Jack, but six years ago we hadn't even found it yet," Daniel points out.

"Oi!" Jack exclaims.

"I still don't understand," Deb says.

Sam bends down on one knee in order to be closer to the little girl. "Honey, there are a whole bunch of universes out there. Each one of them is full of planets and people. Some of the people in these universes are similar. The mirror that you are describing is a way to get from one universe to another."

"So you're not my mom," she says.

"Not exactly, but I probably have a lot in common with her," Sam says.

Deb's lip quivers, "It is ok if I hug you anyway?"

"Of course, honey," she says, taking the little girl into her arms.

"So they _are_ dead?" she asks.

"Probably," Daniel says.

"Can you check?" she asks tentatively.

"No, we don't have the mirror anymore. I'm sorry," Jack says.

She nods her head, "Will you come meet my new parents? Their names are Iris and Alex. I'd like them to… you aren't exactly my parents, but it would give them an idea what they were like. Besides, I'm sure dad would like to talk to you about starting the war."

"Ah… we're usually not in the war starting business," Jack says.

Sam shoots him a look that is very similar to her father's 'oh really' look, and even Teal'c has a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Well, I don't know if you started it. But Daniel talked about another one like my father fought beside him when they overthrew the gods," she says.

"Sir, I think another version of us freed these people from the Goa'uld," Sam says.

"Yeah, I kind of got that," he said.

"Will you let me fight?" she asks eagerly.

"No," Teal'c says.

"I could show you quarterstaffing," she offers hopefully.

"Quarterstaffing?" Jack asks.

"It was part of a mediaeval knight's training. I'm not sure what it's doing in a culture that's based on Ancient Greece, but it involves…" Daniel begins.

"Yeah, I know what it is. I'm just not sure what a little girl is doing learning it," Jack says.

"I'm not a little girl!" Debbie protests.

"Ah, girl, what are you doing, jabbering with guests to our city?" one of the guards asks, having finally come down to see about the visitors.

"I know them," she says, "They're coming home with me."

"Fine, as long as they're not guests that need to be escorted to the temple," he says.

"Oh, they're not Goa'uld," Deb says.

"Ye sure? That one has the mark of a Jaffa," he says, pointing to Teal'c.

"Well, technically he has a Goa'uld in his stomach, but he definitely does not need to go to the temple," Deb says.

The guard gives her a nod.

"Take point," Jack says, nodding to the little girl.

A huge grin cover her face, "Point! I've got point. You all can watch my six," she says glibly.

"Well, I don't think you need a paternity test," Daniel mutters to Jack. "She's you through and through."


	4. How He Met Her Mother

**Note: I'm messing with ages for both universes here. Jack and Sam are only five years apart in this story. Sam was born six years earlier, and Jack five years later. This means Sam is currently 38, and Jack is 43. I'm changing the years they were born so Sam was born in 1962, and Jack was born in 1957. That is, of course, assuming that I got the math right. **

"Mama!" Deb calls into the empty courtyard.

There is no answer.

"She'll be back from the market before long. Papa won't be coming back for a couple of hours," Deb explains a bit bashfully. She pauses, "I'm supposed to offer you some water or wine. Or at least, I would be supposed to if I was a lady. As it is, I'm a soldier," she says with a proud jutting of her chin, "But I'll still fetch you the drinks anyway."

"That's ok," Jack says, "I think we're all more interested in talking to you."

"What do you want to talk about?" Deb asks, leading them into the andon and the members of the team sit down on the low benches that surround the room.

"I think we'd like to know more about your world. What happened to it?" Jack asks.

Sam shoots her commanding officer a glare at a question which could bring up a lot of things that Deb probably doesn't want to talk about.

"I don't know. Daniel never told me."

"Well, did you know who or what they fought?" Jack presses, "Goa'uld or replicators?"

"The Goa'uld? We wiped them out a long time ago. And replicators… those little spiders. Daddy hated them when they were around, but I think they were mostly gone before I was born, too."

"Wait a second, you beat the Goa'uld and the replicators as of six years ago?" Sam asks in shock.

Deb nods, "I think it was a lot longer ago than that. I don't remember you talking about either, except when you had team nights, and then it was like when you were young. Actually, Grandpa Jacob was the only one that talked about the Goa'uld. You fought the Ori mostly when I was small, but I don't know who came through this time."

"Ok, can you explain something else then?" Sam says. But as soon as she says it, she blushes.

"What?" Deb asks, smiling in such a bewitching way that Sam can't help but ask.

"Your mother, what job did she do?"

"She was on SG-1," Deb says as if it was obvious, "Just like you."

"She was an astrophysicist?" Sam asks.

"Of course!" Deb laughs.

"And Air Force?" Sam asks.

Deb laughs again, "You're serious?" she asks. "Wait, _You're _Air Force?"

"She's a Major," Jack says.

"Dad always said that Mom would be a great in the Air Force. He used to do hand-to-hand with her in the basement. Sometimes Teal'c would come and teach us Jaffa moves. Well, not me. He refused to teach me anything but meditation. He said Jaffa children didn't learn fighting until after their prim'ta, and he thinks that the same should be true for human children."

"I still agree with this assessment," Teal'c says with an eyebrow raise.

"If I was a Jaffa I would have reached my prim'ta!" she protests.

"Indeed," he says, with what she recognized as Teal'c's smile although it has nothing to do with his mouth.

"Can you tell us a little more about your parents?" Daniel asks.

"Do you mean Iris and Alex, or…" she waves her hands to Sam and Jack.

"We're not your parents, honey," Sam says.

Deb looks a little crestfallen, even though she knows this is true, "Do I have any siblings? If you can call them that in another universe."

Sam and Jack look at one another with a touch of panic for a minute before Sam takes a deep breath and says, "Honey, the Colonel and I are not together in this universe."

She glances from one to the other, "Colonel?" she asks confused.

Jack nods his head.

"My dad was a _Lieutenant_ Colonel."

Fear grips Sam's heart. So this is confirmation, if she ever was with Jack O'Neill she'd stunt his career.

"Six years ago? So was I," Jack mutters, mostly for Sam's benefit.

"So I don't get it, in your world you never stopped being friends?" Deb asks.

"And teammates," Sam adds, taking a quick glance at her commanding officer. Even after his partial admission during the zat'arc testing, she isn't entirely sure how he feels about her.

"No, you guys were friends back before you knew about the Stargate," she says.

"We didn't meet until I was assigned to the Stargate, four years ago," Sam says.

"Four years ago? Seriously? You've only known each other for four years?" Deb exclaims.

"When did your parents meet?" Daniel asks.

"I don't know the year. After Daddy saved Grandpa Jacob," she says.

Sam looks expectedly at Jack. Did he know her father before he knew her?

"How did I save him?" Jack asks.

"I don't know," she shrugs, "It was a really _long_ story. I'd get bored part way through. Something about the Earth war."

"Which war?" Jack asks.

"There was more than one Earth war?" Deb asks in surprise, "I don't know, I mostly heard about the intergalactic stuff," she says. "Oh! It was right before my Grandma died. The one that I got named for."

"That would be my mother, sir. I was fourteen," Sam offers.

He nods his head. He knew that. He may pretend that he doesn't read paperwork or files, but he knows his team's records by heart. With the stuff they've run into you never know when you might need to know your friend's memories. "I would have been nineteen," he adds.

"Yeah," Deb nods, "You'd been in Air Force for a year, and Grandpa Jacob was still a Colonel then. He was your boss."

"More like the boss of my boss," he guesses.

"Anyway," Deb says, clearly annoyed at being interrupted, "You saved his life. And you and he got to be good friends. He invited you over and you were friends with his family. Then Grandma died, and Grandpa was going on missions through the gate. And Mommy and Uncle Mark were left with _their_ grandma. But Daddy was still around. He was going to college then, because Grandpa said he was good enough to make officer. And Daddy used to come over and comfort them. And he used to box with Uncle Mark, and one time Uncle Mark punched his lights out!" she giggles.

Jack gives Sam a glare, as if she was somehow responsible for this.

Sam however is a little nervous, "You're telling me that I - I mean she - started dating him when she was fourteen?"

Deb laughs, "Oh, no! Grandpa would have _killed_ you! You were friends for a _long_ time. You didn't start dating until Mommy started college, and Daddy was working at the 'gate."

"Hold it!" Jack exclaims, "The stargate wasn't in operation that long ago."

"What are you talking about?" she says in shock, "The stargate has been working since Ernest was young."

There is a moment of silence before Daniel says, "Do you know where Ernest went?"

"Abydos, that's probably the only place you can get to from Earth unless you can figure in interstellar drift," she says with a shrug.

"So then he probably made it right back?" Daniel asked.

"No, it took a couple of months. Catherine was a wreck, because she thought he was dead. But then he came back. The Stargate Program was pretty slow going until computers were invented. It took the mathematicians half a year in order to get one address. So they had to have a lot of mathematicians working on it all the time. But Grandpa Jacob started going through the gate right after he almost died in the Earth war. Then when Daddy got out of college he started working at the Stargate. And after I was born, Mommy joined a team."

"Wait, you're saying that I was dating Sam after I got my bachelor's? I was married to Sara by them," Jack protests.

"Who is Sara?" Deb asks in shock.

"My ex-wife. Debbie, sweetie, did you have a big brother named Charlie?" he asks with a bit of panic in his voice.

"A big brother? No, I was born right after Mom got her doctorate. Like right after, she didn't even get to go to the graduation party, she was in labor," Deb says laughing. "I really wanted a _little_ brother, but Mom started working for the Stargate not long after I was born. She didn't want to stop going through the gate long enough to give me a brother. She kept saying 'someday' but she died before someday ever came."

This story knocks the wind out of Sam, because she too has been waiting for her 'someday'. She really hopes that she doesn't end up waiting for it until her death. But at least this other version of her got part of her someday. She got a husband and a daughter, which is more than Sam can really hope for at this point.

The story knocks the wind out of Jack for another reason. He gets up and leaves the room. Sam gives a glance to Daniel. This is one of those situations where she and Jack are too close for her to be any help.

She's grateful that Daniel takes the hint, and follows Jack into the courtyard. Jack is sitting slumped against the wall with his knees bent before him.

Daniel sits down next to his friend in silence for a little bit. This is actually a pretty good method of getting Jack to talk. When that fails Daniel says, "Charlie?"

"It's like she's trying to replace him," he says, gasping, "Or worse, that I am."

"She's not yours, Jack. She belongs to some other Jonathan O'Neill in some other time."

"One who had a wife and kid," he mutters.

"One who died before you lost your wife and kid," Daniel points out.

"That's true, after a fashion, but it's still… hard," Jack mutters.

"I know," Daniel says, rubbing his back.

Suddenly the door of the courtyard is flung open and Iris marches in humming a song. She stops short, and drops the baskets of food when she sees the two men sitting against the wall.

"Listen, we're not going to hurt you. Your daughter invited us here," Daniel says, well aware of how threatening the two of them must look with guns.

"You promised me!" Iris screams, "You promised me that we could keep her! Now, have you brought someone to take her away?"

"Ma'am, no-one wants to take your daughter from you," Jack says.

"Daddy, you don't want me?" Deb's voice says from the doorway to the courtyard.

His heart breaks as he turns to see her standing there, looking so vulnerable.

Sam comes over and rubs Deb's back, "It's not that we don't want you, it's just that…" but she can do nothing to finish that sentence. She shoots her commanding officer a glare.

"Oh, baby," Iris says holding out her hands, "_I_ love you. Mama loves you so much," she says crying, "Don't you want Mamma to keep you?"

Deb goes to her obediently, "I want _all _my parents."

"So you _are_ her parents," Iris says, sounding dejected.

"Not exactly. Her parents are dead. We're from a parallel world. We're alternate versions of her parents," Sam explains.

"Perhaps we could work out some kind of visitation schedule," Jack says.

"That will be much easier after you free our people from the Goa'uld," Iris says.

"Ah…" Jack stalls.

"You came to free us from the Goa'uld, didn't you?" Iris presses.

"Not exactly, ma'am, we just came to see if we could make some friends."

"Well, if that is true, then your timing was very bad indeed. Today is the first day of inspection."

"Inspection?" Daniel asks.

Iris looks from one to the other. "You know… inspection. When the Goa'uld ship comes and makes sure that everything is in order. There will be no coming or going from the gate for a week."

"Well, then, I say we'd better head home," Jack says.

"It's too late for that," Iris says. And just then they hear the familiar sound of sand being moved by the landing of a mothership.


	5. Plan A

"How detailed is this inspection?" Jack asks nervously.

"They check out all the operations," Iris responds.

"Do they go house to house?" Jack asks.

"They search some houses, but not all of them," Iris says.

Jack lets out a muffled curse, "How likely is your house to be one of them?"

"My husband is a member of the counsel," she says.

Jack breathes a sigh of relief.

"But he often tries to soften Goa'uld policies. And for the last six years he's been working on building a resistance for the day when the Goa'uld rebellion comes," Iris says.

"Six years, so I'm guessing the reason is…" Daniel begins.

"Because you said that my husband and you once vanquished the Goa'uld side-by-side," Iris nods.

"You know, for a peacekeeper, you sure start a whole lot of wars," Jack grumbles at Daniel.

"You can't leave now, can you?" Deb says with a big grin.

"Not for a while honey," Sam says.

Deb suddenly runs up the flight of stairs. The adults she left behind try to determine exactly which emotion she is experiencing. She returns a few minutes later with a huge grin and what appears to be a homemade baseball and bat.

"Will you play with me?" she asks Jack.

Tears come to his eyes as he says, "Of course," and ruffles her hair a little bit. She throws him the ball, and lines herself up at the other end of the courtyard with the bat. Sam moves into the catcher's position, twisting a glove out of clean hankies she keeps around in case Daniel's traveling allergies act up.

Teal'c and Daniel both move into the outfield.

Deb looks around at everyone, and remembers how - six years ago - they used to do this a lot.

-0-0-0-

When Alex opens the door to enter the courtyard he is almost beheaded by a fast-flying baseball. When Deborah first came to live with them, she played this game all the time. It was one of the few connections to Earth, to her family, that a six year old could transport into a foreign society.

As time had gone on, Deb had stopped wanting connections to the world that she had spent the first part of her life in. Every connection was too much, too painful. But apparently, she was back to playing ball.

Then his eyes focus on the figures playing ball with his daughter, and his world crumples. He falls to the floor.

"Papa!" Deb screams, running to his side, "What happened?"

"I'm fine," he mutters, sitting up.

"Were you hurt?" she asks.

He pulls her to his chest, "With something that is more than a mortal wound, my darling girl," he says.

"What?" she says, pulling away and trying to understand his words. She has trouble whenever he goes poetic.

"You've come to take my baby?" he asks, looking at Daniel.

"No," Jack answers, "You're her parents. We are not her parents."

Deb looks hurt at his denial. Sam shoots Jack an evil look as she wraps an arm around the child. "Actually, what he meant is we're not the people who gave birth to her. But we are the same people as her parents. We are from a different universe, but we're the same people."

Alex stands up again, but doesn't loosen his hold on the baby.

"We were wondering if you had any intel on the Goa'uld situation," Jack says.

"They're going to free us from the Gao'uld," Deb says.

"I don't know about that," Jack warns.

"Come," Alex says, inviting them into the andon.

-0-0-0-

"What do you think, Carter?" Jack asks, looking over the plans they had drawn on the paper Alex had laid on the floor.

"It looks like it would work, sir," she says.

"You think if we won this battle, they'd send reinforcements?" he asks Teal'c.

"The mines are providing minerals at only an intermittent rate, and the Goa'uld visit here infrequently. I doubt they would view this planet as valuable enough to justify a full-scale war."

"Ok, now that we've answered the question of whether or not we can, we can start talking about whether or not we should," Jack says. He doesn't quite feel comfortable engaging his people in a battle without orders, and there is no way to get orders.

"Jack, these people are slaves," Daniel points out.

"Right, but they are well-treated slaves compared to some places we've seen. Is it worth the risk?" Jack presses.

"Dad, you have to stop the Goa'uld, that's what you do!" Deb exclaims.

"How did you get in here, again?" Sam asks, exasperated and a little impressed with her stealth.

"We might as well include her," Jack grumbles, tapping the spot beside him on the couch.

"You're going to use C-4, right, Daddy? You like to use C-4," she says eagerly. The rest of SG-1 stifles a laugh.

"I'd feel more comfortable if you called me 'Jack'," he says, not making eye contact.

"Ok," she says, slightly glum, "Mommy likes C-4, too," she brightens up, and shooting Sam a grin.

"Yes, C-4 is part of the plan," Sam says.

"I could set it off," Deb offers brightly.

"You are not part of the plan," Jack informs her.

"But I know how to fight," Deb protests.

"I have no doubt that you would be an impressive warrior," Teal'c informs her, "However, your parents would be too concerned about your safety to adequately fight the battle."

"Which parents?" she asks.

"All of them," Daniel says.

"But if I can't go, how will I know that my parents are safe?"

"That's what we're here for," Daniel says smiling at her.

"You couldn't save them last time," she reminds him bitterly.

Daniel's stomach twists with guilt that belongs to another Daniel Jackson.


	6. Are you my Daddy?

"Oh, no! Sir!" Carter screams.

Damn it, he thought this would be the one time in the history of plans, that plan A went off without a hitch. He turns to where Carter is pointing, and sees the little girl. She's swinging a huge stick and has that same look of determination he's seen on Sam's face a hundred times.

"Iris! Get your daughter out of here," Jack commands, pointing.

Iris' face goes pale, and she turns. Just then, a staff weapon hits her back. Alex runs over to his wife, screaming her name.

"Retreat!" Jack screams.

"The C-4, sir," Sam objects.

"You get them out of here, I'll set it off," Jack commands with a nod.

Sam doesn't move.

"I'll get Deb," Daniel says, turning. He runs over to her and picks her up, and then realizes for the first time that eleven-year-olds really aren't meant to be carried.

"Mamma!" Deb wails.

"It's ok, everything will be alright," Daniel assures Deb.

"No, they killed my Mama, just like they killed my mommy and daddy. And now you're taking me away, again. Stop it! Save them, Daniel! Stop saving me! Save _them_ for once!"

He ignores her, and continues carrying her out of there as fast as she can. She starts to wrestle her way out of his arms.

"Deb! You need to stop this! Let me get you out of here so I can help them!"

Another staff weapon blast hits near her parents.

"Alex, get her out of there!" Daniel screams.

Alex scoops his wife into his arms, and starts running.

And then a blast hits Alex in the back. He crumbles to the floor.

"No!" Deb screams.

The C-4 goes off, taking almost all of the Jaffa with them. SG-1 manages to take out the last of the Jaffa as they retreat. When the rest of SG-1 reaches Deb and Daniel, Teal'c scoops up the girl, who is still trying to escape from Daniel. Teal'c knows that he is the only one that can hold her right now.

"You have to get them!" Deb screams.

"Honey, your parents are gone, and it's not safe there. We have to get you somewhere where you will be safe," Sam says.

"I have to check on them! I have to know for sure!" Deb says.

Sam takes off, running toward Deb's fallen parents.

"Get back here Major!" Jack screams. But he knows she isn't going to obey so he runs after her providing her cover.

She runs over to the fallen pair and checks their vitals. She shakes her head and runs back.

"What the hell was that, Carter?" he asks, once they are once again back in relative safety.

"When my mom died… Sir, I know what it's like to not know. If I hadn't, she never would have known for sure."

"You risked your life," he says angrily.

"What if they _had _been alive, sir? I know how you feel about leaving people behind in the field!" she exclaims.

By this time they are back to the others. Deb is sobbing.

"Honey," Sam says, holding her hands to her.

"You should carry them, not me," she protests.

"Honey," Sam says.

"They're dead?" Deb asks.

Sam nods her head.

"They died saving me. I should have listened. If I hadn't come, they would still be alive," she says.

Jack's stomach clenches when he realizes that this little girl inherited his sense of guilt. "Honey, this is not your fault. I was in charge; I should have protected them. But right now we have to focus on staying safe. We can't go back to your house right now. Someone might have survived this," he says with a wave of his hands, "Can you think of somewhere they won't look for us?"

"Yeah," she says, squirming until Teal'c puts her down. She takes her father's hand and starts walking.

Jack's heart clenches as his hand clutches hers. He had been so determined not to get attached. So determined.

-0-0-0-

This sea cave completely overwhelms Jack the first second he sets foot in it. It is too delightfully childish. Deb has drawn on the walls with scoria and berries. She's woven legless chairs from grass and sticks. She's collected the sort of treasures only a child can find in nature - rocks and shells and a family of dolls made out of sticks and clothed in leaves.

"Those were from when I was little," she says, brushing them aside with embarrassment when she sees him looking at them.

"They're beautiful," he murmurs, touching them with reverence.

"Sir, when do you think it will be safe to go through the gate?" Sam asks.

"We'll do some recon tomorrow," he mutters, "Where will we drop you off?" he asks the girl.

"What?" Deb and Sam say simultaneously.

"We can't just leave her in a cave. Do you have grandparents, or an aunt or uncle?" he asks.

"Sir, we're taking her with us," Sam says firmly.

Deb looks relieved.

"She's not ours, Carter," Jack says.

Sam had just sat down, but now she stands up to face her commanding officer toe to toe, "Well, maybe she'll _be_ mine, sir, and if not, we'll find someone on Earth to take her. She belongs on Earth. And then we can visit our daughter."

"Anyone think to ask the kid what she wants?" Daniel asks.

All eyes turn toward her. "I want to go home," she says.

Daniel clears his throat, "And where exactly is home?"

"Earth," she says.

"Our Earth isn't your Earth," Jack tells her.

"I know that!" she shouts, "I know you're not them, but you are the closest I have."

"It's ok," Sam says, putting her hands around her.

Suddenly, Deb's eyes go huge, and she pulls away. "No, he's right. You have to leave me here. Someone… will take me in," she mutters, leaving the cave.

Sam glares at Jack, "Sir," she prompts with raised eyebrow.

"I'm going," he mutters.

Deb is sitting outside of the cave, and he recognizes his own posturing in her. "You should come inside," he says.

"I'm fine," she mutters, staring at the ocean.

"It's safer in the cave," he says.

"I'm not sure I believe in safety anymore," she mutters in a cold voice.

He closes his eyes for a long second. Then he sits next to her, "I want you to come to Earth with us."

"No," she says.

"I was… wrong before." He wants to leave it at that. He desperately wants to leave it at that. But he can't. "I... I've been a jerk to you. I was wrong. It was about me, not you. See, I had a son. And he died, and it was my fault. And I'm terrified that I'll hurt you too," he can't believe how honest he just was.

"I'm the cursed one," she says quietly. He just looks at her. "Four parents in eleven years. I think that tops one son."

He struggles to breathe as he puts his arm around her, "None of that was your fault. What happened today, that was my fault. I had no business sending people without training into battle. And if I did, I sure as hell should have gotten them out of there."

"You have to stop," she mutters.

"What?" he asks.

"Being nice to me. I don't deserve it. You know that they died because I came after you told me not to," she says.

"Yeah, you didn't listen. But that isn't why they died. They died because the Goa'uld are evil. And if I was as good as your father was, the Goa'uld would be gone by now," he mutters.

"He didn't destroy the Goa'uld," she murmurs. Then she looks at the man beside her. He's so much older than her father was, and she doesn't think it's just the six years. "You know, you're not single-handedly responsible for the universe, Jack."

"Your dad… your first dad, was he a good dad?" he asks, looking at her almost shyly.

"He was amazing. He had a great sense of humor. And he was always there for me. Mom was great, but she'd get distracted a lot. You know, if she went into her study on a weekend she'd never make it back out. Whenever I was in the room, I was all Dad could see," she whispers.

"I'm sorry you lost him. I'm sorry you lost them all. And I know I haven't been… accepting so far. I'm not going to be the dad you lost any more than you'll be my son, but I'd love to… be your dad in some form or another."

She leans into his shoulder.

"And it's ok to cry. Losing parents, definitely an acceptable reason to cry."

"You sound just like my Daddy," she says slowly.

"Someday I'll be your Dad," he says ruffling her hair. "We'd really better go back inside. It's safer in there," he says, standing up and offering her a hand.

"How did it go?" Sam asks nervously as they re-enter the cave.

"Great, Jack and I worry the same," Deb proclaims.

He smiles down at her, and squeezes her to his side, and suddenly Sam wishes she'd been the one to get Deb from outside.


	7. Homeward Bound

"Colonel, who is this?" Hammond asks, looking at the small child who has just walked through his gate. Dr. Jackson had given him a pretty complete briefing on the battle that had occurred, during the radio call, but there had been no mention of a child-sized refugee.

"Ah… this has to do with quantum mirrors," Jack says.

"I ordered that thing destroyed!" He bellows.

"I know, Grandpa George, but I came through before you destroyed it," the girl explains.

He pauses, "You're Lisa's daughter?"

"No, I'm not actually your granddaughter. I called you that," she pauses, "Called _him_ that. Parallel realities are confusing," she says, looking at Sam with a tiny grin.

"So whose daughter are you?" General Hammond asks.

"Should I say?" she asks looking at Sam.

Sam gives her a nod and a smile.

"Major Jack O'Neill and Dr. Samantha Carter, sir."

"I assure you regulations were never broken in _our_ reality…" Jack begins, but the General waves his hand.

"I assume going back to her reality isn't an option?" he says.

Jack shakes his head.

"Well, go and get checked out in the infirmary, and then come up here for a briefing. She can stay with Dr. Fraiser during the briefing."

They take a few steps toward the door before Hammond touches the girl's shoulder, "What's your name?"

"Deborah," she says.

"Welcome to Earth, Debbie," he says.

She turns impulsively, and barrels into him with a hug. He wraps his arms around her, and a slight laugh shakes his chest without quite making its way out of his mouth. It's a laugh which is usually reserved for his granddaughters.

-0-0-0-

"Janet!" Deb exclaims as she comes into the infirmary.

"Hi, do I know you?" she asks.

"I know a different Janet," she explains, "You're going to want to do a DNA test to prove I am who I say I am."

"Why do you say you are?" she asks.

"My daughter," Sam says.

Janet looks at her, "How is that possible? And who is the father?"

Jack raises his hand, and Daniel can't help but laugh at Janet's expression.

"Parallel universe," Sam explains.

"Oh," Janet says.

"We were hoping that you would watch her during the briefing," Sam says.

"No problem," Janet says with a smile.

"Yeah, she used to watch me all the time. I mean the other Janet did," she says.

"I bet you were good friends with Cassie, then," Janet says.

"Cassie?" Deb asks in confusion.

"Oh!" Sam says, "If we defeated the Goa'uld before Deb was born, Cassie never would have lost her parents. So she never would have needed to be adopted."

"I don't understand. You adopted a daughter? How did Mike feel about that?" Deb asks.

"Mike?" Jack asks.

"My ex-husband," Janet says, trying to keep the distain out of her voice.

"No, your son. He was angry enough when Amanda was born. I can't imagine how he'd feel about an adoption. Did you adopt before or after their dad left?"

"Wait a second, where you came from, Mike and I had kids?" Janet says in shock.

Deb stares at her, "I can't… I just can't imagine you _not_ having kids. I mean, I used to play with them all the time, and here they don't… they don't even exist?"

-0-0-0-

The General doesn't say a word as the whole story spills out. From the quantum mirror to the battle.

"Major Carter, would you like me to contact your father?" the General asks after a long silent pause once the story is done.

"Yeah, you can tell him to come if he has time," she says.

"I assume then that you are going to have some involvement in her life then?" the General asks.

"I'd like to be involved," Jack blurts surprising the room. He hasn't exactly been warm and fussy toward the girl from what they've seen.

"I would like to be there for her too," Sam says softly.

"Ok," the General says, "So are we thinking joint custody, or finding a family with proper security clearance who would be willing to let the two of you visit her?"

"Sir," Jack says, "She's lost four parents. I won't let her lose any more."

"So we'll be looking for a family…" the General begins.

"I don't think you understand, sir. I want to retire," Jack says. The room stares at him in shock.

"Colonel, there are plenty of people on the base that have children," the General begins.

"General, she's lost way more people in eleven years than most people do in a lifetime. I won't take her unless I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be added to that list," he says.

"Sir, the universe needs you," Sam says.

"I don't know, a little girl recently pointed out that I am not responsible for the universe," he says.

"Sir, I want to help," Sam says, feeling guilty that she is not willing to give up her career for her daughter. She's more selfish than Jack.

"That would be great, Carter. She can stay at your house sometimes, too," he offers her with a smile.

"Jack, are you really sure you want to give up SG-1?" Daniel asks.

Jack nods his head.

"Colonel, just because you don't want to be on a front line team anymore, you don't need to retire. I have actually been looking for someone to fill a new position in Operations," the General says.

"You want me to fly a desk?" Jack asks dubiously.

"If you don't want to be on a front line team, yes," the General says.

"I'll consider it," Jack says.

"I'd like as much intelligence about the reality this girl came from as possible," the General says.

"Sir, I'm not sure how much she can give us," Sam says, "She was only six when she left Earth. The rest of her life was spent in our reality."

"Granted, but I do want a video recording of what she remembers, let's say tomorrow at noon, that will give her a little bit of time to settle in," the General says.

"That should work," Jack says.

"Anything else?" the General asks. No-one says anything, so he says, "SG-1, you can have the rest of the day off. Dismissed. Jack," he adds, as SG-1 stands up to leave.

Jack takes a step closer to him.

"Jack, when you need a babysitter, my door is open. I'd like that girl to call me Grandpa George for reasons besides memory of another man," he says.

"Thank you, sir," Jack says.

As they walk out of the room Jack turns to Sam, "Would you like to go shopping?"

"Sir?" she practically squeaks in surprise.

"I'm guessing you are more familiar with what an eleven year old girl needs than I am," he says.

"Right, although I bet Deb is the expert," she says.

"Oh, we'll bring her too," Jack says.

Sam is glad, because she suddenly feels like she needs a chaperone right now.


	8. Shopping Mall

"Wow," Deb says in awe, "Either I've forgotten what stores were like, or you guys have way bigger stores in your reality."

"I don't think there were as many giant superstores six years ago," Jack assures her.

"What do we need to buy, sir?" Sam asks.

Deb gives her a strange look. Hearing Sam call him sir with a note of deference was strange enough when they were off world. It's downright unnerving when they are in a store shopping together.

"Oh," he lets out a sigh, "Pretty much everything."

"Let's start with clothes," Sam says, glancing down at Deb. Janet had the presence of mind to call Cassie to bring some of her old clothes to the mountain as soon as Deb arrived. On her home world, she wore a sort of homespun toga. It's not exactly the sort of thing you'd want to walk into a department store wearing. Cassie's old sundress is a little big for Deb, and somehow the sunflowers that adorn it don't scream, 'I spend my time quarterstaffing teenage boys'.

Deb rolls her eyes and sighs, "I hate shopping for clothes."

"I feel the same way," Sam says, earning a look of surprise from her commanding officer. He swats away the thought that she is so good at it. He loves seeing her in her civvies. Her motorcycle leathers is his favorite, but he also likes the skirts a spring day like this bring out.

"Shopping for clothes is way better than _making_ them though. Mama says that when I turn fourteen I'm going to have to settle down, and…" she stops cold, both in words and walking.

Sam kneels down, one bare knee on the linoleum, to give her a silent hug.

"I would gladly sew all day if it would bring her back," Deb says slowly.

"I know, honey," Sam says softly, "I know," she says hugging her.

Deb lets out a long sniff before she asks, "Are they making me stay on base? They do that with people that come through the gate sometimes."

"No, you're going to come live with me," Jack says.

She looks up at him, and flashes him a big smile, "I'm glad I get to live with you guys."

"Honey, Jack and I don't live together," Sam says quickly.

"But you're going to now, right?" Deb asks confused.

Sam takes in a deep breath. Apparently, Deb hadn't understood that the two of them really weren't together. "No, honey, Jack and I are not a couple. We're not married, we're not dating, and we're not living together," she explains.

Deb rolls her eyes, "You already told me all of that. But you don't have to be a couple to live together. Daniel used to live with us back before he got married, and when he didn't have any money. And he wasn't a couple with either of you."

"It's true that grow-ups sometimes have roommates," Sam says cautiously, "But if Jack and I were roommates, they probably wouldn't believe that we were just roommates. I tell you what, though, I'm going to see you all the time. And you'll get to stay over at my house sometimes too, ok?"

Deb looks dubious, and Jack realizes that something more concrete might help them out of this rather sticky situation.

"How about we pick Friday nights? Every Friday night when Sam isn't," he pauses here, remembering just in time that they are in fact in public, "Out of the country, you can go over to her house. Then on Saturday night, I can come pick you up. What do you think of that?" he says, looking at the two people he is already starting to think of as 'his' girls.

Deb nods, "It's not as good, but…" she just nods again.

"Thank you, sir," Sam mouths over Deb's head to Jack.

As soon as they hit the junior section of the clothing department, Deb starts pulling jeans and shirts off of the rack.

"Ok, next?" she asks.

"You have to try those on," Jack says.

"Uh!" she protests, taking a few steps toward the dressing room.

"Wait a second, honey," Sam says, "You'd better take a couple different sizes in there. You haven't been on… in America so long. I doubt you can guess your size that quickly."

"This is worse than back-to-school shopping," Deb mutters.

"Come out here with every outfit you try on," Sam warns as she takes one of the seats near the fitting rooms.

Jack takes the one next to her, "Attitude already?" he whispers once Deb disappears.

"Yep, we practically have a teenage girl on our hands," she says with a giggle.

"And I thought the Goa'uld were scary," he says.

"Regrets?" she asks, very concerned.

"Not even close," he says.

"I'll be there to help you," she says.

"Maybe we should think about her roommate suggestion," he says.

Sam's mouth drops, and she is still trying to form an answer when Deb pops out of the dressing room wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt adorned with sequins.

"I love it!" Sam exclaims using her finger to indicate that she should spin.

Deb takes a slow spin around.

"You like them?" Jack asks.

"Yep!" Deb says as she disappears back into the fitting room.

Sam's stomach is twisted in a knot. She doesn't know how she is going to respond to Jack's question. She isn't even sure if she should still respond to Jack's question now that they had a serendipitous interruption. She also gives herself a mental scolding for continuing to refer to him as Jack. She might be able to do that in a couple of weeks, but she really shouldn't be doing that right now.

"It's ok, you don't have to answer me," he mutters, "I was out of line to ask."

"No, it was a… good thought. It makes sense in some way. She really deserves two parents," Sam says. She adds in her head that she really deserves two parents who are not constantly risking their lives.

"There are lots of ways to be a good parent, Samantha. You can be a good mother without being with her ever second of every day," he says.

"Thanks, sir," she mutters.

Deb bursts out of the room with another outfit. Once it is approved, she disappears into the dressing room once again.

"I'm going to go pick out a dress for her," Sam says, standing up.

"Are you sure that that's a good plan? How are your quarterstaffing skills?" he teases.

"My mother used to dress me up in skirts, all the time. I hated it. Until she died. After that, I couldn't get enough of skirts," she says, indicating the one she has on. "I figure a nice dress might help with it since… Iris, you know?"

He nods.

"Don't let her put anything in the 'accept' pile that doesn't fit, sir. Especially check the back of the pants, she has a very flat butt," she says.

"This is not a conversation I ever imagined you and I having," he says with a giggle.

"The joys of fatherhood. I'll be right back," she says.

-0-0-0-

"All right, clothes are checked off. The toy section is pretty close to the clothes, so let's go there next."

"Jack, I am way too old for toys," Deb protests.

"Well, that's surprising, because I am not yet too old for toys," Jack says.

Sam giggles at his joke. Jack can't stop himself from turning to her in surprise. She never laughs at his jokes. She smirks at them, but she always stops it short before it becomes a laugh.

"What do you want; dolls, yoyos, board games? All of the above?" he presses.

Deb looks at Sam for help.

"What about… a karate tape, sir?" she asks.

"Yes, and video games!" he exclaims.

"What is a video game?" Deb asks.

"You first parents never let you play video games? Jack asks, scandalized.

"Sir, she was only six years old when she left Earth. Do you really think it would be appropriate for a six year old to play video games?" Sam asks.

"I think we know whose fault it is that you didn't get to play video games," Jack says conspiratorially to their little girl.

"Hey, now!" Sam protests.

"Is eleven old enough to play video games?" Jack asks.

A warm feeling blooms in Sam's heart when she sees that Jack is honestly consulting her about how to raise their daughter. She never imagined that he would want her advice, "As long as I it isn't her whole day. We'll have to find her game system…" she begins.

"Actually, Carter…." Jack says.

"You already have a game system?" Sam asks.

"It's, ah… for when Cassie comes over," he says.

"Sure it is, sure it is," she mutters.

-0-0-0-

"Are you sure we got everything?" Jack asks, surveying the cart, which is full to overflowing with clothes, shoes, a coat, bedding, games, toys, a CD player, a few CDs and a wide variety of 'kid' foods.

Sam surveys the cart for a long time before she answers, "Yes, sir, I think we have it covered."

"What about you?" he asks his daughter.

"I can't believe you are getting me all this stuff!" she exclaims, already giddy with the new presents.

As they pull up to the checkout, Sam takes charge. She starts organizing the things in the cart onto the conveyer belt. She obviously has a system, so Jack leaves her to it. When the cart is empty, she quickly whips out her credit card, and pulls it through the card reader before Jack can stop her.

"What are you doing, Major?" he asks quickly.

"Consider it child support," she says with a smile.

"Carter, you did not have to do that," he protests.

"I know, but I wanted to. She is my daughter, too," she says, kissing her on the forehead.

"Thank you, Sam," her daughter says.

"I just thought of something we forgot," Jack says, slipping out of the line.

A few minutes later Sam and Deb are waiting for with a cart full of bags. Jack walks up to them with a ball, bat, and glove, and Debbie starts to cry.

"I'm sorry, was I wrong?" he asks bending down to hug her, "I can take it back."

"No," she says, clinging to him desperately. "Sometimes it's easy to remember that you aren't him. Other times you are exactly like him. I need both times," she explains.


	9. Pizza and Poker

"You guys want pizza?" Jack asks. He can't believe that in the five minutes he left them alone in his spare room, they'd transformed it into the room of a little girl.

"Sure," Sam agrees, turning to him with a smile. Feelings bubble up inside of him which may not be forbidden for much longer. He pushes the feeling down for what he hopes will be pretty close to the last time.

"What kind of pizza do you like?" Jack asks his daughter.

"Ah… I don't remember pizza," she says, sounding obviously embarrassed.

"It's ok," Jack says, "We'll just get one of each."

"One of each, Sir?" Sam asks with an eyebrow raise.

"There are a limited number of acceptable pizzas, Carter," Jack says.

Sam rolls her eyes.

Deb just stares at him.

"Something wrong?" Jack asks nervously.

"No, it's just… I've missed that. Jokes that I don't get, but she does," Deb says.

"That wasn't really a joke," he says.

"It doesn't take a joke to make her giggle at you," Deb responds.

And Jack thinks that Deb's Carter is very different from his. But maybe she won't be for long.

-0-0-0-

"Did she finally fall asleep?" Jack asks when Carter emerges from Deb's room a little after midnight.

"I don't know if it's the jetlag or the new family or the…" Carter offers.

"Grief?" Jack suggests.

"Probably that one," she says softly.

"Carter, it's late, why don't you stay here tonight?" he asks.

"Sir, I can't do that," she says.

He blushes, surprised that she would even think that he meant that, "I didn't mean. Carter, I just meant the guest room."

"Oh I know what you meant," she says, "But I can't just stay here, sir. We have a daughter."

"And I'm sure she would be horribly traumatized if her parents were friends," he jokes.

"Sir, she expects us to be together, like her parents were. Until we can offer her that, we can't give even the slightest appearance of it. I won't get that little girl's hopes up," Sam says.

"Until?" Jack says with a smile on his face.

"Until," Sam says firmly.

"Ok. Goodnight," he says, standing up. She obviously didn't expect him to stand just because she's leaving, and the two of them bump into one another.

"Sorry," she mutters.

"Yeah, sorry," he responds, but from this close he can't resist running the backside of his hand across her face.

"Well, don't be sorry for that," she says with the giggle that Deb heard often and he has heard rarely.

He hopes he can make his Carter as happy as some other Jack made some other Carter. He hopes she isn't going to regret this.

-0-0-0-

"Jack?" Deb asks uncertainly from the hallway, early in the morning.

"What's wrong?" he says, quickly sitting up, ready for battle. He surveys her for injuries out of training rather than conscious decision. She looks fine. Better than fine actually, she's dressed and her hair is wet.

"This is stupid, but I've never done it by myself," she mutters.

"Never done what, honey?" he asks.

She hands him a hairbrush. He bites back a laugh. He can tell by the look on her face that laughter would not be helpful in this conversation.

She turns around. He starts brushing, "I've never done this before, either," he admits.

"You're supposed to put your hand here, so it doesn't pull," she says, touching the place where her hair meets her sculp.

"Ok, sorry," he says, putting his hand there and making sure to brush so gently. He doesn't want to hurt his daughter.

"I know I'm way too old for this. I was too old when I went to live with Iris. But Iris and I did this to bond."

"Ok, well, we're bonding, too," Jack says, "Maybe I'll learn to French braid, too."

"I'll learn how to brush my own hair, Jack. It was just today… I was remembering showers and buttons and zippers," she says apologetically.

"I'd rather you let me do it," he mutters, "At least for a few more years." She turns her toward him with a smile. "You can keep calling me Jack, if that's what you're comfortable with. But if you want to switch to 'dad', you can."

"You told me not to call you 'dad'," she reminds him.

"That was before you were my daughter," he says, smoothing the last of her hairs. "Now, it looks like you are almost ready for your first day of school."

He catches a flicker of insecurity in her eyes that he's only seen before in Sam's eyes when she's about to go in front of a camera.

"You scared about school?" Jack asks.

"I haven't been to Earth school in six years, and no school for a couple," she says, biting the edge of her lip.

"You're going to be great," he assures her.

"You're just saying that because my mom's a genius," she mutters, "You don't even know me."

"Know you? The eleven-year-old who came after an evil alien who claims godhood with a stick? I think you can handle a few six graders and some fractions."

She grins at him, "Thanks, Dad. You'd better get ready," she says, glancing at his pajamas.

"Right, you probably buy that whole 'fifteen minutes early is on time' thing," he says.

"Right, my first mom said it was an Air Force rule."

"The only rule in the Air Force is 'hurry up and wait'," he mutters. "Ok, I'm going to get ready. You want me to turn on the TV or something for you? Or breakfast! I need to make you breakfast!"

"Dad, I have been missing cereal for half my life. You certainly don't need to make me breakfast today," she says.

"Ok, it's all reachable? I don't want you climbing on chairs or anything," he says.

"There he is," she says with a smile, "My overprotective Daddy." She spins out of the room.

"That wasn't an answer," he calls down the hallway.

"I've got it covered," she exclaims.

-0-0-0-

"Daniel," Jack says, turning into his lab, "I start a new job officially today, and I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Sure," Daniel says quickly sliding the breakables away from Jack's wingspan.

"See, ah… I was wondering if you could watch Deb tonight."

"Sure," he says, "But I would think you'd ask Sam," then a grin covers his face, "But you can't do that, because she'll be with you won't she? Way to go Jack!" he claps his friend on the back.

"I haven't asked Sam yet. And I don't think Sam wants the kid to guess, so… as far as Deb knows, I'm working late," Jack says.

"Ok," Daniel says, looking a bit confused at his friend's obvious nerves, "Good luck?"

-0-0-0-

"Sam," he says, entering her lab. Sam makes the same clearing motion that Daniel does, with the added precaution of tossing him a stress ball.

"I heard about the transfer, congratulations," she says.

"Do you want to go out tonight?" he asks.

"What?" Sam asks in surprise, "What about Deb?"

"Daniel agreed to babysit," he says.

"You just got a daughter three days ago, don't you want to spend time with her?" Sam asks.

"Of course, but…" Jack begins.

"Because I want to spend time with my daughter, and there shouldn't be a but," Sam says.

He looks at her for a while before he reaches deep down inside of himself to a part that was able to be honest, "So before you were saying 'not in front of the girl' and now you're saying 'spend more time with your daughter'. Sam, if you don't want this, that's fine, but at least have the guts to tell me. I don't want to wait forever, unless I'm not actually waiting for something that will one day happen."

"Jack, I don't want you waiting forever. I want to see my daughter, too. I want to see you, too," she says. She smiles at him, "I suppose I _have_ been giving you mixed signals. I don't want anything to happen that would make our daughter think we were together in front of her. That doesn't mean I don't want to be together in front of her. Can't we just hang out, without the physical stuff? I know that is a lot to ask," she suddenly blushes.

"It's not a lot to ask," he smiles at her.

"I mean, we can sneak kisses and things sometime when we're not at work or with Deb. But I don't want to be away from her for hours a week to 'date'. I mean, if anything is happening here, it's going to be moving toward a family. So…"

"You want to date as a family," he says, relieved at the explanation.

She nods.

"You want to come over tonight?" he asks.

"Sure," she says with a smile.

"I'll go cancel the babysitter then," he says, "See you at seven."

"Six?" she asks.

"You got it," he says, grinning at her eagerness.

-0-0-0-

"How was your first day?" he asks as he picks Deb up from school.

"Good," she says.

"Care to elaborate on that?" he asks.

"It was… just a start. I think I'll be able to handle my classes, and the kids were ok. I found someone to sit with at lunch, and whatnot. But history is going to be hard, and I haven't made friends yet."

"You'll do it," he says, giving her a hug. "Carter is going to come over later tonight," he tells her.

It takes Deb a second to figure out what who Carter is, and then she bounces in the seat, "M… Sam is coming?"

"Yeah, at six o'clock."

"What are we going to do? What does Sam like to do?" Deb asks.

Deb is showing all the signs of nerves she shares with her mother. "Honey, whatever we do, she's going to love you."

"But what does she like to do?"

"I don't know, kid. You can probably answer that question better than me. I know she likes working on her Indian, and reading about physics, and making fun of science fiction movies. I honestly don't know that much about what Carter does during her downtime. What did your mom do with you?"

"It was all my stuff. You know, Barbies (and I'm pretty sure mom hates Barbies) and books and going to the park. When you're a kid you don't realize that not everyone likes what you do. But I don't want it to be like that this time. I don't want her to have to do what I like all the time," she says.

"That's what parents do," he says.

"Not this time," she says.

-0-0-0-

"Sir, you've been lying for a long time," Sam says as she takes a bite of her hamburger.

"I'm not 'sir' anymore, and what exactly do you think I've been lying about?" Jack asks.

"You can cook," she says.

Deb giggles.

"I never said I couldn't cook."

"You implied it sir, and when I think of the barbeques that you've forced me to endure over the years…" she says with a shake of her head.

"Well, grills are not my friend," Jack says.

"Oh, they are definitely not. This one Fourth of July he couldn't get the grill going, and so he started using some gasoline, but it still wouldn't light, and then he went and got the… Ok, that didn't happen here did it?" Deb says.

"That's ok, I really want to hear the end of the story," Sam says, shooting Jack a grin.

Jack clears his throat, "Ah… that _did_ happen in this reality. In fact, that's why the deck is younger than the house."

Deb grins, "And that is when Mommy threw away the grill."

-0-0-0-

"I taught you to play poker when you were six?" Sam asks in surprise.

"I think it was more like three," Deb says, "Deal."

Jack hands out the poker chips, and his hand touches Sam's. Only their pinkies are making contact, but they linger. Deb notices. Jack notices her noticing, and pulls away.

"So, what kind of poker are we playing?" Jack asks.

-0-0-0-

"She sleeping?" Jack asks.

Sam nods. "I used to sing to her, like my mom used to sing to me," Sam says, kind of awed. Jack likes to watch Sam discover what a wonderful mother she was - and will be.

"Goodnight, Samantha," he says.

She reaches over, and takes his hand. She swings it back, and forth between them.

"Good date," Sam says.

"How could it be bad when I'm dating you?" he murmurs.

"That was cheesy, sir," she giggles.

"You can't call me 'sir' anymore," he objects.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm going to call you 'sir' forever. 'Night," she says giving his hand a squeeze before stepping out into the night.

He stands at his window and watches her pull the helmet over her head and drive away on her motorcycle. He pokes his head up into his daughter's room to see that she is the opposite of asleep. She is sitting up in bed fidgeting.

"Do you love her?" she asks.

"Yeah, we're teammates."

Deb scoffs, "You're telling me you feel the same for Mom as you do for Teal'c or Daniel?"

"Sure," he says. And then he sees Jacob Carter's 'you're full of shit' look from the little girl. It's very unnerving. He sits down on the edge of the bed, "Honey, Sam and I are complicated. But rest assured that we love you so much, and we will always be there for you."

"That hand thing when we were playing poker didn't seem very complicated," she says with a smirk.

"Honey, this not a conversation a man has with his eleven-year-old daughter," he says.

"But I don't get why you guys never got together," she whines.

Jack whips the hair away from her face, "You have me full time and Sam part time. I'm sorry that is all I have to offer you, but it's all I've got right now. You deserve more. You deserve your real parents, either set of them. But you've got me," he says, standing up and walking toward the door.

"Daddy!" she says.

He turns back to her.

"I'm sorry, you're enough."

He walks over, and places a kiss on her forehead, "I love you, honey."

"You too, Daddy."


	10. Parent Trap

"Dad, I haven't seen Daniel in a while," Deb says.

"We should probably have a team night," Jack says.

"Right, we should do that, too. But I think Daniel should pick me up from school tomorrow. That way, you could work late. You used to work late a lot more than you do now," she says. That's true, but she's far more surprised with how infrequently her mother works late. This Sam isn't quite like the mother she grew up with.

"Ok," Jack says. He knows perfectly well that his daughter is up to something. But he has no idea what. He figures that is the danger of having a child with a genius. "I'll give Daniel a call, and see if that works for him."

-0-0-0-

"So what is your plan here?" Daniel asks Deb as she sits down in the car.

"What makes you think I have a plan?" she asks.

"Oh, please, little girl, just spill," he says.

"Daniel, have you ever seen the movie 'The Parent Trap'?" she asks.

"Oh, this is a really bad plan," he says with a laugh.

"So you won't help?" she asks, slumping in the car seat, distraught.

"Oh, now, I didn't say that. What do you need?"

"We're going to have to work fast," Deb warns, leaning forward to share her plan.

-0-0-0-

"Sam?"

Sam's heart nearly stops at the sound of her worried daughter's voice. "What's wrong?" she asks.

"I just… can you come over tonight? I really need to talk to you," she says.

"Of course, I'll be right over," Sam says, closing her lap top.

"No… ah… not right now. Wait until six o'clock, ok?" Deb pleads.

"Sure, honey," Sam says. She hangs up the phone, her brow furrowed. She dials Jack's office. She knows that he is working late for the first time since Deb entered his life.

"Jack, what's going on with Deb?"

"I don't know, but something, right?" he says.

"For sure, she wants me to come over later," Sam says.

"And she definitely wanted to get rid of me this afternoon," Jack adds.

"Oh, no," Sam says.

"What?" Jack asks.

"You remember what movies we bought her, Sir?"

"Ah… Mary Poppins, and… crap."

"Yeah, 'The Parent Trap'."

"Just to be clear, there isn't a chance she has an identical twin sister, is there?"

"I'm as sure as I can be, not having actually given birth to her."

He laughs on the other end of the phone, "So are we going to put the kid out of her misery and tell her we're actually together?"

There is a pause.

"Carter?" he asks.

"I don't know… I think I want to be parent trapped," she says.

"Carter," he gasps, pretending to be shocked.

"It sounds… romantic, sir. And you have no idea how much an eleven year old girl would love to believe that she is the reason her parents got together. I think we should give her that."

"Or, give _you_ that, Carter?" he ask.

"I'll see you at six, sir," she says.

"Maybe tonight, you'll prove you know my first name."

"We'll see how good our daughter is at trapping us, and we'll go from there, sir."

-0-0-0-

When Jack gets out of his truck in front of his house, he hears Sam's motorcycle in the distance. He stands in the driveway, waiting for her. When she arrives, she leans forward to take off her motorcycle helmet with a shake of her short hair.

"Carter," he greets, hoping that the way she has affected him doesn't get into his voice. He is disappointed when he can tell that it does.

"Sir, are you sure we should go in together?" she asks.

"You're making her work for the trap?" he asks with a grin.

"I suppose, it _is_ just a coincidence," she says.

As soon as the open the door, Daniel looks like he's been caught, "I'd better go," he stammers, making a hasty exit.

Neither Sam nor Jack has much attention to spare for him, though. The living room is decorated with streamers and balloons. Daniel obviously took their daughter to a party supply store. The table is set with a fancy table cloth that Jack is pretty sure he didn't own before today. On the table is a beautiful dinner.

"Did you cook that?" Jack asks his daughter.

"No," she laughs, "I wouldn't trust myself with an Earth stove. We got it from a restaurant. Daniel wouldn't even let me light the candles."

"Why did you do this?" Sam asks, trying to keep a stern face so her daughter won't know how much she is enjoying this.

"It's just like your first date. Daddy made you dinner like this, with the candles and stuff. And then you fell in love," she says cheerfully.

"And you believe this will make us fall in love all over again?" Jack asks with his eyebrows raised.

"One can hope," Deb says, with a grin.

"You'd better set another place at the table," Sam says.

Deb laughs, "No, I already ate. I'm not going to interrupt your first date! Oh, and there is music. Daniel helped me download all the songs you used to listen to. The first one is your song. You played it first at your wedding and everything," she says, walking over and pressing play.

"Honey, I would really like it if you join us for dinner," Jack says.

"Nope, I'm going to do my homework, and then I'm going to watch a movie," she says.

"I bet I can guess the name of the movie that you are going to watch," Jack says.

"Sit, eat, fall in love," Deb commands as she walks out of the room.

Jack walks over and pulls a chair out for Sam. "Shall we eat, Carter?" he asks.

She sits down, "Yeah, I guess we're having a date, without our daughter."

Jack sits down, too, "So how was work today?"

"Pretty good," she replies, suddenly locking eyes with him. She reaches her fork over and stabs a piece of pasta off his plate, and puts it in her own mouth.

He grins. He stabs food off her plate, and then places it in her mouth. She giggles.

His eyes look at her with soft emotion in his eyes.

"He loved her," Sam says slowly.

"Yeah, he does," Jack says. A huge flower blooms in her heart with warmth for this man before her.

"She waited for happiness. Waited six years. But she already had some happiness. I've already waited four years," she says.

"We're not going to wait any more," he says, tucking a touch of hair behind her ear.

She leans forward, obviously going in for a kiss.

"Carter," he says, pulling away, "Let's let our daughter see our first kiss. Let her think she did it."

"Ok," she says, spearing a little pasta which she puts into his mouth.

"Jack, you never talk about your family," she says.

"Four older sisters, Samantha, four."

"You're kidding," she says.

But before any more conversation can happen, there is knocking at the door.

"I'll get it!" Deb screams, running toward the door.

"Ask who it is before you open the door!" Jack warns.

"Who is it?" she responds obediently.

"Jacob Carter, who are you?" he asks.

"Oh my gosh! This is so perfect," Deb says, turning to her parents to gush, "This is exactly what happened on your first first date!"

Jack stands up and opens the door. He somehow always pictured an angry Jacob Carter in this encounter, but as of now he just looks confused. Of course, this could simply be because he hasn't figured out what is going on quite yet.

"Hello, sir," Jack says.

"Hi, Jack, George said that my daughter was here."

"Yes, sir," Jack responds.

Jacob raises his eyebrow. Jack is never this polite. Something is up. "Ok, is it some kind of a team thing?"

Deb can't hold herself back anymore, and flings herself into his arms. He catches her and hugs her tight. She is almost crying in his arms.

"Hi," he says awkwardly.

"I missed you so much," she says.

"Um… ok, who are you?" he asks.

"I'm Debbie," she says with a slight smile.

Jacob's eyes go large, and he looks at his daughter who has walked into the small and crowded entryway from the kitchen. He knows this little thing isn't his wife. But he can see tiny bits of his wife in the eyes, and the proud chin.

"Dad, we should probably have a talk," Sam says.

"Debbie, sweetie, can you go to your room for a little bit," Jack says.

She nods her head.

"And maybe play some music, sweetie," Sam adds.

"Who is she?" Jacob asks.

"Dad, are you familiar with the quantum mirror?" Sam asks.

At the same time Jack says, "Why don't you sit down?"

Jacob obediently takes a seat, and the other two follow. "I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner," he says. But he gives a good scowl at the candles on the table.

"Dad, Deborah was my daughter from a parallel universe. Her parents died, and her Daniel brought her into this world. She's been raised by adopted parents for the last six years. We recently went to her planet, and…" Sam begins.

"We started a war that killed her parents. So she's living with me now," Jack finishes up.

"I don't understand why Sam's daughter would go to live with you," Jacob says.

"Well, sir, she is my daughter too," Jack says.

"I see, that would explain why you're here without the rest of the team," Jacob says. There is silence, and it is unnerving everyone in the room. "I'm concerned about the candles," he finally says.

"Dad," Sam says nervously.

"Sammy, I understand that some other Sam sacrificed her career in order to have a baby. But are you sure you want to do that? You can be a mother without…. without the candles!" Jacob rants.

"She didn't sacrifice her career. She was just not in the Air Force. She didn't break any rules, and she still got to go through the gate," Sam protests.

"But you are in the Air Force, and having a relationship with your baby daddy will ruin you," he says, locking her with direct look.

"Jacob, I switched jobs when Debbie entered my life," Jack says.

Jacob turns to him in surprise.

"I couldn't let her lose any more parents. She's lost too many already," Jack says.

"So you're not her CO anymore?" he asks in a deadpan voice.

"No, sir," Jack says.

"Good for you!" he exclaims, pulling Jack to his feet and giving him a hug.

"Has the girl eaten?" he asks.

"Yeah," Jack says, somewhat stunned by not only the fact that the hug has happened, but also by the length of the hug.

"I'll take her out for ice cream. You guys can have a little bit of privacy, and I can get to know my new granddaughter," he says.

"First room on the right," Jack says.

"Dad, if you wanted to stay…" Sam begins.

"I'm here for a week, Sam, we'll do some family things, too," he smiles.

"Let's say that we give them a first kiss?" he asks.

"You want to kiss me, in front of my father?" she asks, blushing.

"I think he likes our relationship," Jack says.

"You're crazy, but I like it."

The two of them come into the room, and Jack takes a step toward Sam. He grabs her face, and his lips quickly make contact. Then one hand slips around her shoulder while the other grabs onto the small of her back. He slides her down into a dip. She is surprised at first, but her arms wrap around her neck, and she returns the kiss with equal eagerness.

"Wow! It worked, I parent trapped them!" Deb eagerly explains to her grandfather.

"Well, that couldn't have been a hard job. It's like trying to trap Pooh into taking some honey," Jacob mutters.

Jack lifts Sam back up.

Jacob walks over, and gives his daughter a hug, and a kiss on her check. "Will two hours be enough?" Jacob asks

"You can come back whenever you want, Dad. You could even have ice cream with us, assuming Jack has ice cream."

"We'll go out," Jacob decides.

As the door is closed, Sam and Jack turn back to their dinner.

"Dad is happy about us," Jack says, "I didn't see that one coming."

"Oh come on, you know that dad likes you."

"Yeah, I know he likes me as your CO, not as your…." Jack suddenly panics. He's never really been ok with the 'girlfriend' word. It's not a pure commitment issue either. He had no problem with 'wife' or 'fiancée'. It's just 'girlfriend' that sounds weird to him. Although, it is early to use words like this. This is sort of their first date.

"Romantic interest," Sam offers.

"Something like that," he agrees with a smile.

"So these sisters of yours?" Sam asks.

"Ah… well, that is a long story…" he begins.

-0-0-0-

"I'll go and put her to bed," Jack offers hours later, once Jacob and Debbie have returned. Jack and Sam were sitting on the couch, watching the Simpsons. They're holding hands, but there is not as much contact between the two of them as Jacob expected.

"She's a great kid. I see a lot of little Sammy in her," Jacob says, sitting down in a chair to look at his daughter.

"I see a lot of Jack in her too. She's got energy," Sam says.

"I hate to tell you, daughter of mine, but all that energy isn't from Jack," he sighs, "I know it wasn't actually you who named her. But I can't tell you how much it means to me, how much it would have meant to you mother."

"Yeah, I'm glad she did that," Sam says.

"Are you happy, kid?" he suddenly asks.

She smiles, "I am."

"I'm glad. It's been a while since I've actually seen you happy," he says.

"I've been happy," she protests.

"You've been content," he corrects her. "You been settling for a long time. Are you still settling?" he asks.

"No," she says.

"Good," he says with a grin, "So does your daughter actually know how to fight as well as she claims?"

"How well did she say claim she could fight?" Sam asks.

"She seemed pretty convinced she could beat me," he says.

"That would be an exaggeration," Sam says.

Jack comes out of his daughter's room. "You want a beer, Jacob?"

"I should probably get going. I think I'll head back to base," Jacob says.

"Don't be silly. You'll stay with me like you always do," Sam says.

"I didn't know if… you'd be making it home tonight," Jacob says awkwardly.

"Oh, Dad, there is no way I'd be spending the night at Jack's. We have a daughter to set an example for," Sam says. "I'll see you tomorrow," she says to Jack as she stands up.

"I don't want to rush you," Jacob says.

Sam takes a step forward, and pulls Jack toward her to give him a mind-blowing kiss.

"Night," he says, stunned, as she pulls away.


	11. Jello

"You know, Jack, you're going to spoil me if you keep making me dinner every night," Sam says as Jack, Deb, and she eat dinner together.

"You know, Samantha, you might spoil me if you keep coming over for dinner every night," he responds.

"Seriously, why don't you let me cook tomorrow night?" Sam asks.

"You never cook, Sam, you'd have to leave work early," Deb says. Sam's face falls and Deb wishes she could suck the comment back into her mouth.

"That was a different Samantha Carter," Jack says sternly.

"But one that was just as much a workaholic," Sam says, picking up her plates.

Jack follows her to the dish washer, "Hey, you _were_ a workaholic. You're not anymore."

"I came forty-five minutes late today," she protests.

"Ok," he shrugs, "So you're in recovery. The point is, you are a really good mother to that little girl."

She looks away.

He puts a finger on her chin, "Stop doubting it."

"I'm sorry, Sam," Deb says coming into the dining room, and giving Sam a hug.

"Deb, why don't you ask Sam that question you've been wondering about?" Jack asks her.

She looks at Sam bashfully, "Jack said I could call him 'Dad'. If you wanted me to keep calling you 'Sam', I would, but…"

"You're asking if you can call me 'mom'?" Sam asks.

"Is that ok?" Deb asks nervously.

"I'd love it, sweatheart," she says.

"Go and sit down, we're having dessert tonight," Jack says.

"Jack, I know you like cake and pie, but…" Sam begins to protest.

"Relax, I know that you worry about that waist of yours even though you _really_ don't need to. It's just jello." He knows it's the only dessert she will eat.

"Ok," Sam says with a smile as she sits down.

Jack arrives a few seconds later with three jellos in glass bowls. He places the purple one before his daughter. He puts the red one where he was sitting, and the blue one in front of Sam.

"You made three kinds of jello?" Sam asks.

"Yeah… symbolic," he mutters.

As soon as she looks at her jello she sees something suspended in it. "Jack, is that a…" she asks.

He nods his head.

She digs it out of the jello, and wipes it on a napkin. "It's beautiful, sir."

"Sam, the reason I'm giving this to you is because I love you. I want to have a family with you and make you as happy as an old soldier can."

"I think you'll make me very happy," she says, "I love you, too."

She stands up to kiss him, her hand snaking into the small hairs on the back of his neck as the kiss lingers.

"It's not too soon?" Jack asks, locking eyes with her, "We've only been dating for a few weeks."

"Four years," she corrects.

"You're getting married!" Deb shouts. She'd been too stunned to talk up until this part of the conversation, but now the words come spilling out of her without a filter, "I wish I had pictures of your first wedding, but you probably don't want to do things like you did the first time. What song are you going to dance to? Do you like the same flowers as Mom did? When are you going to get married?"

"Soon?" Sam asks.

"Ok, quick engagement," Jack says pulling his daughter into the hug that he knows she so desperately needs.

"Can you put the ring on my finger?" Sam asks, handing it to Jack. He slides the ring onto her finger, and lets the hand linger on top of hers.

"My parents are getting married," Deb squeals, "I can be in the wedding, right?"

"We'll find you something," Sam assures her. "Now, there is jello," she says indicating the table.

"Just to be clear, at the wedding, there is going to be cake," Jack says.

-0-0-0-

"Carter, after we get married, where do you want to live? You want to move into this place, or should we find a new one which belongs to all of us?" Jack asks as he sits on the couch. She is leaning against him, and his face is tilted away. Deb has already gone to bed for the night.

"I think we are going to have to find a bigger place, Jack," she says.

"Right, all those books of yours," he teases.

"I was thinking it would be nice to have room for a baby, and still have a guest room/study. But, if you don't mind moving your study into the basement, then we can just put the baby into the spare room."

"Hold it; baby, Carter? You want to have a baby?" he asks.

"Yeah, after we're married. I'd like to have a baby," she says.

"You'll have to leave SG-1 for a while when you get pregnant."

"I know that. But then we'd have a baby," she says.

"Yeah, we would," he says, kissing her cheek.

"You want more than one?" she asks, glancing at him.

"If we have a baby we'll have more than one, Carter, but if you want more than two…" he says with a shrug.

"I think two," she says, "For now."

"This is nice," he says, snuggling closer to her.

"Just think, in a few months, I won't have to leave at the end of the night anymore."


	12. Father's Day

**2001**

"Happy Father's Day!" Deb blurts out, bursting onto Jack's bed.

"Hi, sweetie!" he says, putting his arms around her. He glances at the clock. It reads 0700. And his wife is already out of bed. Why is she up so early on a Sunday?

"Didn't I tell you to let your father sleep?" Sam scolds, coming around the corner with a tray of breakfast food.

"It's _Father's _Day!" Deb protests.

"Which means you should let your father do all of the things that he likes to do. In _your_ father's case, that would include sleeping in on his rare days off."

"But he has surprises!" Deb exclaims.

Sam rolls her eyes. She knows that it is her own fault. If she hadn't let Deb know what her surprise for her husband was, she wouldn't be so excited right now. But it couldn't be helped. Deb had been helping her prepare the breakfast, and there was no way she could hide the surprise that he breakfast contained.

"I suppose you want me to open yours first," Jack says, looking at the two packages that his daughter hands him. One is from her, while the other is from his wife.

"No, I want you to eat first!" Deb says, bouncing.

Jack gives her a surprised look, but turns toward the breakfast Sam has placed in front of him.

"You're giving me cake for breakfast?" he asks.

"Start with the cake, Daddy!" Deb says.

"Debbie! You're ruining this!" Sam says in frustration.

Jack grins, and stabs his knife into the piece of cake. It hits something rubbery. His mind can't think of a single rubbery thing his wife would choose to hide in a cake. He reaches in, and pulls at the rubbery thing. It's a pacifier.

"Samantha?" he asks.

She nods her head grinning. He puts the breakfast tray aside, and pulls Sam over to him.

"We're having a baby," he says.

"Yes, we are!" Debbie says with glee. "I _finally_ get to be a big sister!"

Jack pulls the pacifier out, and puts it in his mouth.

"Sir," Sam says. She doesn't call him this very often anymore. It only slips her mouths sometimes when she thinks he is doing something ridiculous.

"What?" he says around the pacifier. "You gave it to me."

"It's for the baby, Dad," Deb says, pulling it out of his mouth.

"Hey, that tasted like chocolate," he protests.

"Presents now, Dad," Deb says, pressing her present into his hand.

"I already have my present," he says, putting a hand on Sam's belly.

"Well, there are more," Deb says.

He opens it up to reveal a scrapbook. It holds pictures of the six months that she's been his daughter for. There are quite a few pictures, at least after Daniel bought her a small digital camera. But the first part of the book contains hand drawings of her time with her other two sets of parents. She's sharing with him her own personal history.

"Is that ok?" she asks. She isn't quite sure if he wants to be reminded of all the things she was before she was his daughter.

"It's better than ok," he says, kissing her forehead. He settles down to continue reading the book.

"Open Mommy's present!" Deb says with impatience.

He pulls the paper off a large box. "It's a chess set," he says slowly.

"Look closer," she says with a grin.

"A custom chess set with people from the SGC as the characters. How did they do this?" he asks in awe.

"They do it from photographs. I figured that since it's Father's Day, I would get you something you do with your daughter," she says, referring to the twice-weekly games of chess.

"Thanks, Sam," he says, resting a hand on her stomach once again.

"Eat Dad, it's getting cold," Deb says.

"You have far too much energy for this early in the morning," he complains.

"Nope, just the right amount," she says, placing the breakfast in front of him and snuggling into his side.

"This has got to be the best Father's Day ever."


End file.
